Statement from Bill Frist

Bill Frist, M.D., Majority Leader of the Senate said May 13th, 2005 - Upon completion of action on the pending highway bill, the Senate will begin debate on fair up or down votes on judicial nominations. As is the regular order, the Leader will move to act on judge nominations sent to the full Senate by the Judiciary Committee in the past several weeks. Priscilla Owen, to serve as a judge for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Janice Rogers Brown, to serve as a judge for the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, will be the nominees of focus.

This is VERY good news, and I am very happy that Frist has decided to start with Owen and Brown, both women, and one is a black woman. The Dems depend on the votes of women and blacks, and it will be very hard for them to oppose these judges.

The Majority Leader will continue to discuss an appropriate resolution of the need for fair up or down votes with the Minority Leader. If they can not find a way for the Senate to decide on fair up or down votes on judicial nominations, the Majority Leader will seek a ruling from the Presiding Officer regarding the appropriate length of time for debate on such nominees. After the ruling, he will ensure that every Senator has the opportunity to decide whether to restore the 214-year practice of fair up or down votes on judicial nominees; or, to enshrine a new veto by filibuster that both denies all Senators the opportunity to advise and consent and fundamentally disturbs the separation of powers between the branches.

That is a very good way to put it. If the Dems are successful in pulling enough Republicans over to prevent the Constitutional option passing, just think what is going to happen if they should ever again get a Dem in the White House. No judges will be approved.

There will be a full and vigorous Senate floor debate that is too important for parliamentary tactics to speed it up or slow it down until all members who wish have had their say. All members are encouraged to ensure that rhetoric in this debate follows the rules, and best traditions, of the Senate. It is time for 100 Senators to decide the issue of fair up or down votes for judicial nominees after over two years of unprecedented obstructionism. The Minority has made public threats that much of the Senate’s work will be shut down. Such threats are unfortunate. The Majority Leader has proposed his Fairness Rule: up to 100 hours of debate, and then an up or down vote on circuit and Supreme Court nominations. Further, the Fairness Rule would eliminate the opportunity for blockade of such nominees at the Judiciary Committee. And finally, it will make no changes to the legislative filibuster.

Frist believes he has the votes to push it through, and still is willing to restate his compromise proposal. That is very honorable of him.

If Senators believe a nominee is qualified, they should have the opportunity to vote for her. If they believe she is unqualified, they should have the opportunity to vote against her. Members must decide if their legacy to the Senate is to eliminate the filibuster’s barrier to the Constitutional responsibility of all Senators to advise and consent with fair, up or down votes.

Hat tip to Matt

On BlogsForBush the following comments were made:

phnxbmed commented It is interesting to note that two of the Republican Senators who are widely speculated to vote with the Donks on the fillibuster issue are both from Maine. The DOD has just recommended the closing of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard whose shutdown would affect 201 military jobs and 4,032 civilian jobs. This would be a devestating blow to an already economically depressed area. My bet is that if they both vote with the Donks, the base will be closed. However if they reverse their publicly stated positions, and vote with the party, the base has a good chance of being saved. It will be interesting to see how the base closure list will be leveraged for other important issues like Social Security, and votes on Judges. We may never know for sure, but I'll wager that there will be a lot of backroom arm twisting and negotiating now that the hit list is out.